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Need to boost my serotonin levels,
so recommendations for genuinely funny books please.
French Revolutions by Tim Moore
S**t my Dad says.
Adolf Hitler. My Part in his Downfall by Spike Milligan
Riotous Assembly by Tom Sharpe
Not sure how much it is laugh out loud but if you like/have a vague knowledge of 20th century history
The 100 year old man who climbed out of a window and disappeared
Is a great read, well written, darkly funny and quite involving.
Hitchhikers guide ROFLCopter
Tom Sharpe is a good call is Riotous Assembly the one set in South Africa. If so be warned very not pc...
I also liked Porterhouse Blue, Ancestral Vices and Vintage Stuff by him.
Bruce Dickinson wrote two books of a similar style The Adventures of Lord Iffy Boatrace which are similarly filthy and amusing.
Neither author is imo suitable for those without a "broad" mind...
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas : Hunter S Thompson is a good read.
PG Wodehouse. The first Jeeves Omnibus is as good a place as any to start.
Are you sure you don't want "Haha" reads?
For the typically British adventurer humour, The Ascent of Rum Doodle.
Cugel's Saga by Jack Vance - fantasy book, v funny style.
Anything by Christopher brookmyre, John niven, or David F. Ross.
2nd Many of the above^ Add Catch22.
Any Tim Moore book
French Revolutions is a bit try hard at the beginning but either it gets better or he grinds you down. The Italian one is more even and still funny. All IMO of course.
is Riotous Assembly the one set in South Africa
It's one of them, I think there were two. Last time I read them there was still apartheid in RSA. I'd second any book by Tom Sharp or any of Spike Milligan's war memoirs as proper laugh out loud and embarrass yourself on the train funny.
Add Catch22
Both funny and sad, maybe my all time favourite book. The follow up, Closing Time, I wouldn't bother with.
Definitely hitch hikers. I have been going back to it since I was a teenager.
Yeah, l like most Douglas Adams stuff. The Dirk Gently books were easily as good as the four in the Hitchhikers trilogy ๐
Incompetence by Rob Grant had me in tears a few times mainly because it's so bloody childish.
Viz !!
The Picolax thread ?
Lots of great suggestions thanks.
But none of which are available on kindle unlimited. And although most are listed as available in kindle and despite the fact it will let me download a sample it won't let me purchase the books in there entirety.
Catch 22 is the best book ever written IMHO. If you've not read it, you really should.
I love the Red Dwarf books too. Even funnier than the programme.
Oh ... Kill Your Friends by John Niven is a hilariously twisted descent into cocaine fuelled murderous madness! Another must read!
Cycling back to happiness - Bernie Friend
Spike Milligan's war memoirs. Very very good.
Anything by Tim Cahill.
Sussed it, have to go into my amazon account to buy rather than through the kindle app.
Downloaded riotous assembly and will bookmark this thread for future reference.
Will second all of the Tom Sharpe books. Riotous Assembly was his first book. It git him deported from South Africa. The sequel to it is called Indecent Exposure and is also very funny. I would also recommend the Wilt books by the same author. They are (loosely) based on his job as a Polytechnic lecturer (remember them?) after he moved to the UK. Also worth reading by Tom Sharpe are Vintage Stuff (about a psychopathic schoolboy who takes everything literally) and Ancestral Vices.
I'll also second all the Spike Milligan war memoirs. Very funny and also very hunbling.
Have a crack at the Flashman books by the late, great George Macdonald Fraser. They are the fictional memoirs of Harry Flashman VC, KCB, KCIE, Briatin's greatest war hero who is at the heart of every major military and political escapade from 1840 until 1904 (incl The Afhgan War, The Indian Mutiny, The Slave Trade, Custer's last stand, The Charge of the Light Brigade, The Zulu War et al) despite his increasingly desperate attempts to leg it and/or surrender. In truth he's a coward, a shsyter, a cad and a layabout, yet he always manages to emerge from the most heinous situations with his credit intact and his reputation enhanced. In truth it his natural skills at languages and disguise, horsemanship and womanising - few women can resist his manly charms and more often than not the Flashman gambit (left hand on breast, right hand on buttock and go for the lips) does the trick - that get him out of trouble! The books are extremely well written, very funny and also remarkably historically accurate (other than Flashman of course, who didn't exist). There's a reason that none of them have ever been out of print since the first was published in the early 70s. Enjoy!
Flashman sounds great.
Space captain Smith (can't remember the author sorry) is another good read
Red Dwarf used to have me laughing as a kid - better than the telly.
Bill Bryson...
Life and times of the thunderbolt kid had me laughing so much I had to put the book down..
I'd agree with Flashman, Wodehouse, Bryson and add a few more;
Penguins Stopped Play by Harry Thompson. (Helps if you like cricket, doesn't matter if you don't)
Jasper Fforde. You'll either get his stuff and love it or not. Marmite books. I love Marmite.
Tragically I was an only twin - A collection of Pete and Dud stuff. Utter hilarity.
The Tent the Bucket and Me, Emma Kennedy
Three Men In A Boat by Jerome K Jerome.
Three Men In A Boat by Jerome K Jerome.
Agreed! A lovely book.
There was also an excellent radio adaptation of this recently as well. Punt, Dennis and Rhind-Tutt combined to make something glorious. Sadly not on iPlayer any more, but worth a hunt.
Ooh, I'll try to track that down.
The follow-up Three Men On The Bummel has some excellent bits too, and is about cycling (to the same extent as the first one is about boating, anyway). Idle Thoughts Of An Idle Fellow is pretty good too. JKJ is one of my favourite writers for when I need cheering up.
Calvin and Hobbes comic books..
Not books but quite funny websites
http://dontevenreply.com/index.php
The curious memoirs of Thomas penman - Bruce Robinson. Everyone who I've lebt it to has passed it on & said it's brilliant, but perverse.
Danny Baker - Going to Sea in a Sieve.
The Throwback by Tom Sharp. It tickled my sense of humour, a sociopath on the loose. Proper LOL stuff.
Bill Bryson...
Life and times of the thunderbolt kid had me laughing so much I had to put the book down..
Me too. the bit about the fly in the soup in the diner almost made me have a seizure.
Also try Secret Diary of Adrian Mole.
Reggie Perrin by the late, great David Nobbs.
1066 and All That.
Anything by David Sedaris.
Let's just say that Bill Bryson's 'Neither Here Nor There' was the wrong choice to read whilst sitting in a hospital bed recovering from a hernia operation. Laughter and groinal stitches are a poor combination.
Second the Picolax thread
The Picolax thread made me laugh a lot as did Bill Bryson's Travels in Small Town America.
This gave me a good chuckle. Unbelievable!
http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/singlespeed-shaving
Bill Bryson , A walk in the woods .
All the Bill Bryson travel books are funny, I still love them. The problem is the funny bits creep up on you so make you laugh out loud really suddenly in public places! Notes from a small island is perfection to me and makes me love Britain even more every time I read it.
Hello Sailor by Eric Idle
yup, I'm a fan of Lord Harry Flashman too.
I always remember the one where he's living with the Native Americans and impresses them with his horsemanship. They name him 'he who rides faster than the wind' and he is very impressed with this title until they shorten it to 'windbreaker'.
Childish I know but I can't help laughing at it.
Round Ireland with a fridge by Tony Hawks
The Observer is claiming that Flann O'Brien's 'At Swim Two Birds' is in the top 10 English language novels. It is very very funny indeed, particularly the biographical bits, but a bit more of a challenging read.
Nice one Matt but I suspect the cover is funnier than the content ๐
THGTTG audiobook used to get me in trouble at work, others don't like you to be happy ๐
You clearly haven't read it...
Nope but now you are making me think I should check it. Is this a genuine recommendation?
Adolf Hitler My Part in his Downfall by Spike Milligan and Bill Brysons Notes From a Small Island are two books that left me at times unable to breath and in physical pain with my eyes streaming.
An effect almost as lethal as Monty Pythons funniest joke in the world used to disable the entire German army.
"I had a few days off work one September. I fancied Assynt, but then I have always fancied Assynt. If Assynt was a boy, I would have knocked him to the ground with a rugby tackle and pulled his trousers down years ago."
I will take that as a yes ๐
It is genuinely funny.
Robert Rankin's 'Brentford Trilogy'
Cracking books.....all nine of them!
I almost died just reading out the toity jar" episode in Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid. I think part of the joy of Bill Bryson's writing is he never seems like he's trying to be funny. The mysterious instrument on the hire car dashboard with one needle which moved very slowly and another which appeared to barely move at all, in Notes From A Small Island is another fine one.
Viz Profanisaurus.

